'M' is for muscle

October 27, 2008|By Greg Kot

In recent weeks, the Madonna news has been dominated by her breakup with her husband of nearly eight years, Guy Ritchie. And then there was the matter of one of the world's most famous women reaching a major personal milestone, hitting age 50 in August.

But at the first of two concerts at the sold-out United Center, the focus Sunday night was squarely on the platinum-coiffed singer's ability to make a complete spectacle of herself.

She made her entrance 50 minutes late, straddling a throne in her black fishnet stockings. But she wasn't in a state of repose for very long -- as her second song demanded, "Get down, beep-beep, gotta get up outta your seat."

She was in nearly constant motion from then on, even pushing a vintage car loaded with dancers. The woman has biceps worthy of an NFL running back.

She was scheduled to perform nine new songs out of a 19-song, two-hour concert.

Read about the rest of Madonna's show

See Greg Kot's entire review of the concert online at chicagotribune.com/turnitup